With this unprecedented event of COVID-19 and everyone that can work from home doing so, now is a good time to take stock of how your work from home space is supporting your wellbeing in three ways:
Physical
Mental
Emotional
I have created a free online survey to see how your work from home space scores and give you some ideas on how you might tweak your space or the way you work to maximise your wellbeing.
This tool is adapted from Flow@Work which is a survey tool designed to assess workplaces of any size. Contact me for more details on how I can help you at home or your workplace at jo@theflowcompany.com.
You can find it here, just click the button below:
And here are my NZ Lockdown Top 5 tips for amping up the wellbeing in your home workspace:
1 Location, location, location
Where you work impacts how you work. If you are working in a dingy space with no natural light you will be less happy than in one with natural light and ideally views. Take some time to have a look around your home and see if there is a space that would be better suited to set up as your workspace. What worked on day one may not be great for you now. It might take a bit of time and discussion to work out how to make spaces as equitable as possible for everyone within your bubble and you may need to share to ensure everyone gets an opportunity throughout the day to work well. Try and make the space, comfortable, warm and as ergonomic as you can.
2 Distraction subtraction
So many ways to minimise distraction!
In your workspace, keep your work area clear and tidy, a clear desk really does help you have a clear mind, so take a bit of time at the end of the day to tidy up.
Create a top three task list and stick to doing them, one at a time, in order.
Turn your phone face down so you are not distracted by notifications and if you can, turn off all sound notifications, as these may be in the background for you but others may not be used to them!
Maximise your windows on screen so you don’t get distracted by what lurks underneath.
3 Routine negotiation
Now you have had a chance to find your new routine, have a think about it. Is it working for you?
Is it working for the rest of the people in your bubble?
Have a chat with them and see what you can tweak so that your routines work better together. Think about any behaviours that are driving you nuts, that your significant other may not even be aware of and negotiate some etiquette around them – for instance can you live without audible messenger notifications as a trade off for them not having Radiohead on at full volume?
4 Move!
We aren’t moving around as much as we would in an office as we go from meeting to meeting and from coffee to lunch. We may not have stairs at home.
Move while on the phone if you are not tethered to your laptop. Move while doing tasks you can do away from the computer. Move while waiting for the kettle to boil. Ideally do movement that gets your blood pumping a little, how about a plank while the kettle boils? And if you can stand to do meetings that’s a good way to ensure you get some standing time through the day.
5 Nature is Nurture
Not got a view out to a park or greenspace or the ocean? No problem, stick a plant on your desk. Not got a plant? No biggie, put an image of a plant or a park or a beach on your screensaver or print an image and pop it on the wall. Having a view out to Nature significantly impacts our ability to focus back on a task once our concentration is broken.